It’s a question we hear all the time from brands: “Can I give a publisher a custom tracking link or UTM so I can see how much traffic or sales their story drives?” 

We get it. Clicks and sales are an important metric of many marketing programs. But when it comes to earned media placements – the holy grail of PR and a growing priority for AI search – the answer is no. And here’s why (plus what you can do instead).

Influencers are typically fine with custom links, which means you can track their direct impact. The catch? Influencers vary wildly in reach and results, which means you’ll need to commit to broad outreach, affiliate links, and – for consumer brands – product sampling to get meaningful data.

Publishers, on the other hand, can’t – and won’t – use tracking links. Here’s why:

• Editorial standards – Most publications have strict style guides that forbid third-party tracking in articles. Even if a writer adds it, the editor or the content management system (CMS) will likely strip it out before going live.
  
• Privacy & trust – Earned media is about credibility. Readers expect clean, direct URLs that take them exactly where they expect, not a detour through a tracking service.
  
• Technical risk – If your tracking provider changes ownership, has an outage, or shuts down, every one of those links becomes broken. That’s a headache for you and the publisher.
  
• Spam filters & deliverability – Even before publication, tracking links in your pitch can get your email flagged as spam or blocked by antivirus software. If your email never reaches the journalist, there’s no chance of coverage.

Without a tracking link, it’s hard to tie a single press mention directly to an exact click or sale. But this isn’t new – PR was never designed to be a direct sales mechanism. It’s all about broadening awareness and credibility, which in turn, should drive clicks and sales. That said, there are some broader trends and insights you can monitor to see if PR is doing its job, including:

• Traffic spikes around the time coverage goes live
• Sales trends over time that align with PR efforts
• Increased positive reviews as more customers find your brand
• Higher search rankings and AI visibility
• Long-tail lift – the steady brand awareness and conversion boost that comes with ongoing PR visibility 

Our experience? While influencers are great for buzz, media placements often outperform influencer campaigns over time in reach and ROI, even without the perfect tracking link.

For brands that sell a product or service on their own e-commerce site, there is another option – integrating an affiliate platform on the back-end of your site to generate commissionable links to include in media coverage. Many publishers (including consumer and a growing number of business/trade) actually love these types of links, because they earn a commission if their story drives a sale. This is an easy and low-cost fix – programs like Impact and AWIN connect seamlessly with Shopify and other e-commerce platforms, and typically charge a monthly fee that varies based on volume – which can potentially be covered once you start seeing clicks and commissions from earned media. These platforms also offer a direct view on how and where PR is driving clicks and sales.

Bottom line: Tracking is easier with influencers, but don’t discount the power of publisher coverage. Even without direct click data, it’s often the bigger long-term sales driver.

Still have questions? Feel free to schedule a call.